Crimson Drop: Eternity
by Leo Stone
Summary: The end of the world has come, there are few cities and colonies left, and those that are, are under the rule of the dark lord Kaita. One group who call themselves the Crimson Resistance, will do anything in their power to stop his evil rein.


**_I do not own the characters from Naruto, Gundam Seed and Destiny, and Inuyasha. This is the only dislaimer I give seeing as it is tedious to continuously say something we all know so well also other writing then the story tends to disrupt the flow of the story. Also this story has been rated for the violence and the bloodshed, lots of swearing, and a dark story. Hope you all enjoy._**

Please Read and Review

Leo Stone

Chapter One: End Of Days

Twenty years ago, a great war devastated the earth, destroying much of the land, and her people, but more so, changing everything humans had grown to know. A man by the name of Kaita Wataru lead his forces in from all sides, taking the world for his own, with three great and strong generals under his command. They pillaged and turned the land to ashes and smoke, creating a darkness about the world, desecrating the human race until there was very few left. When the war had ended two years later, most of the civilians had given themselves over to him, naming him their new reigning sovereign of the world. Creating a colony on a large island, he made that into the capital of his new world, spreading a few other colonies about the main land, if only to keep the people in line.

A year after the war had ended, multiple children and young adults had started to disappear causing an uproar in the barely formed society. Having had enough of their disobedience, a new law, in accordance to the new reigning lord, was put into effect, and the people of the new world, found themselves at the dark man's mercy. Fear began to move through the ranks, as strange creatures began to show up in the desolated land, causing them to keep to the colony shelters. Travel pods had been put into effect to travel between the colonies, to keep order, least they lose more lives to the strange arrivals of the beasts that now plagued their land.

What no one had known though, was that the strange creatures, had once been human, but a mad scientist by the name of Saikon Keichii, under the order of Kaita, had begun experimentation. A special underground lab, in sector 7-4, in the southern part of the old world, had been created for his creative purposes. Many strange and unnatural experimentations had taken place, but what was most frightening were the most human appearing experiments. But five years after the experimentations had begun, the lab in sector 7-4 had been destroyed and the experiments had escaped into the world, disappearing in old land. Many had been destroyed before they could get far, but a handful had managed to disappear into the land, never to be heard from again.

**Earth 2145: Aminta Capital Ruins**

Dark black skies covered the once peaceful city of Celesta, but now all that was left was ruble, a grand capital, nothing more then dust and debris. This had been the result of the war, barely more then twenty years past, and yet it looked as if everything had taken place little more then five months ago. Nothing could grow in the desolated environment, the air packed with dust and debris, air not meant for the lungs. No one could breath in such an atmosphere, none dared tried, for they would have been dead within moments. Harsh poisons intoxicated the dusty black skies, oxygen levels reaching an impeccable low, not meant for the people of earth.

Jade orbs scanned the ruble, her gloved hands gripping a gun tightly as she took a step forward, a long thin sword tied to her back, it's obsidian handle carved with panthers. No movements were seen as she moved one foot then the next, her long black trench coat floating softly out behind her with each small cautious step she took. Her mouth and nose was covered by a black mask, her hair tucked under a blood red bandana, pale pink tendrils wisping in front of her face as they escaped from the under the cloth.

Pausing in her steps, her black boots stepped on something, as a crunch was heard underneath her heavy heel. Lifting her foot up, she spotted an ash covered frame, the cracks in the glass indicating a picture of some sort. Bending down, her bare arms reaching for the frame, she stopped in mid movement, her blood red tank top showing off her flawless muscled skin as she looked up quickly. Moving a hand up towards a pair of sunglasses sitting upon her face, she pressed the side of them, and the setting changed. Instead of just night vision, she had put on her infrared sensors, her eyes narrowing as she scanned her surroundings.

Something snapped to her right and she whirled around, bringing up her rifle, her right eye peering into the scope as she waited. The sound of hissing from her left made her start to sweat as she lowered her weapon to the ground. Raising her left hand, she grabbed the hilt of her blade, and shifted it to her right, now slightly nervous and angered at her predicament. The moment a high pierced whistle echoed in the air, she found herself dodging and bringing her blade around, slicing clean through the charging figure. It was no ordinary figure though. Her heart raced, her scent spiked, and she found herself using every curse word she could remember, which was by far more then she should have ever known.

There before her was no ordinary human nor animal, instead a hybrid of human and creature crumpled to the ground, it's blackened blood escaping from the slice she had created with her weapon. A long coarse red pointed tongue hung from the side of it's mouth but what she found most frightening aside from the creature's blood red eyes and shark like teeth, was the twisted and blackened skin that looked like it had been through a fire. Indeed she had always wondered if that was the case with such damnable creatures as these were, their crumpling ash and crispy skin horrifying to the naked eye.

Lifting her left hand to her left ear, she spun around, hearing another whistle, this time closer then the last, and the air about her began to change. Sneering in disgust at herself, she jumped back towards her assault rifle, kneeling upon the ground next to it as she played around with her communications device. Finding the right frequency that she was looking for, she paused once more, listening about her, the ruins suddenly too quiet, as if the calm before the storm.

"Hello..." a voice echoed in her ear as her jade orbs drifted away, watching waiting, "Haruno you there? Sakura?"

Frowning she let a small scowl escape her lips, "What did the commander tell you about calling me by name Shinto?"

A sigh escaped the one she was corresponding with as the sweet melodic voice escaped from the headset once again, "I know, but you weren't answering Panther."

Snorting in amusement she let a brief smile cross her covered lips before movement was spotted lurking from the corner of her eyes. That wasn't all though, as she glanced quickly about her, about seven other figures had entered her vicinity and it was not looking too good for her at the moment. Clenching her fist tight, she replaced her sword in its sheath as she picked up her rifle, her eyes narrowing in on her targets. Finger clutching the trigger, she waited a couple of moments, while the young woman on the other line had noticed the eerie silence.

"Panther, what's going on?" the younger woman demanded.

Pulling the trigger at her approaching target, she watched as the creature went down before turning towards the next and firing, but they didn't stay down for long as she continued to fire round after round. Switching to automatic, she let the continuous fire hold them off as she concentrated on getting back up there as soon as possible. The worried woman on the other line was no help, although granted if their positions were reversed she'd be worried too but now was not the time to ask her if she was alright.

"Dammit Rin! Get me back up A.S.A.P. I've got seven live Shadow Beasts, and a possible Silver Hunter surrounding me. I'm in sector 3-1 B, northwest sanction of Celesta."

"3-1 B!?" shock registered from the younger woman as Sakura heard the clicking of typing over the head set, Rin was seeking help. That was all she needed, and turning back to her targets, she felt rather then saw, the dripping acid saliva that coated the serpent tongue of the one before her. Scowling she brought up her rifle and shot, sending a bullet through it's cranium but it was still alive, causing her to narrow her eyes.

"Dammit," she hissed, jumping out of the way of its attack as it's long pointed nails scraped along her side causing her to give a cry of pain before she landed on her feet not far away. They had her surrounded, none giving her any room to move, her rifle was now useless, having been coated in the creatures acid saliva. Snarling she threw away the twisted and melted metal and pulled out her sword once more, forming a firm stance as she waited for them.

Twisting her foot a bit she slid around, her blade meeting up with hard claws, the loud clang of the blade meeting the hard surface was proof of that as sparks flew off. Moving her feet once more, she pushed forward, her upper body strength clashing with the creatures, as her knees bent under the pressure. Her eyes widened as she felt the pain in her side, but ignoring it, she twisted her blade catching the metal between the shadow beasts fingers and sliced up its arm, racing past it as she did so. Turning around so that she was now behind it, and no longer surround by her foes, she found herself in more pain then she originally should have been. Looking down at her wound she hissed in surprise, her enemy having come up behind her, it's nails now through her left side.

Letting out a howl of rage she pulled away and sliced the head off the one that had wounded her before turning around and charging into the mass. She sliced one in half, and decapitated another, but her strength was wavering from blood loss and she found her vision faltering. Snorting in disbelief that she had let one of them, not to mention two, wound her, she found herself pacing with them, keeping them at bay and destroying as many as possible. Another had been shredded by her blade before she feel to her knees, the tip of her blade pressed into the ground as she leaned upon it. Her black pants were ripped and bloodied, her shirt no better, the only part of her clothing untouched, was her mask and bandana.

Closing her eyes in concentration, she brought her blade up in front of her, stopping the attack that had been coming. A scream of rage escaped from the creatures mouth and she cringed, the inhuman shriek nearly deafening to her human like ears. Sweat and blood mingled as she gazed into blood eyes, her arms shaking from holding it off, but the snap of a rock from her left made her body freeze. Pale wrinkled skin entered her line of sight and she felt herself shudder and try to break away from the shadow beast holding her against a large slab of what used to be part of a wall.

Fear filtered through her system, and she couldn't help but feel like a child back when the war had first began, except this was more frightening. One look into a Silver Hunter's ice blue eyes and one's soul would be stolen from them, leaving nothing but a lifeless empty shell that they stole for their own amusements. Swallowing the bile that rose up in her throat, she glanced about, watching as two other Shadow Beasts approached her, she had no where left to go. Closing her eyes, she kept her diminishing strength up, holding back the beast as long as possible until she could no longer do it. She feared that the back up team wouldn't be able to get there in time, more then likely they wouldn't be able to reach her, this was the end now. She was done for.

A gun shot echoed about the nearly empty ruins, causing her and four other pairs of eyes to turn towards the noise. There standing not far off was another figure, his lavender orbs flashing dangerously as he watched them closely, his semi short messy brown locks framing his eyes. A sigh of relief escaped her, but maybe too soon, as her muscles relaxed and she fell to the ground, her fading sight watching the dawning horror in those lavender eyes she loved so much. Trying to keep them open as long as she could, she watched as he raced towards her, his own sword pulled out as he came forward. She could dimly hear the sounds of other gun fire, and possibly a couple more swords had been pulled from their sheaths. But her world was going black, and the last thing she saw was those lavender orbs racing nearing her side. Then all was black.

**Earth 2125: Amaris Colony**

Yawning happily jade orbs opened wide her lips pulling into a brilliant smile as she closed her mouth, her gaze searching out for her parents. She had just gotten out of school, finishing her first year off without a hitch, now she couldn't wait to begin her summer with her parents. They were taking her to the capital of Aminta, Celesta for the summer, and she couldn't wait. They went there every summer and a close friend of her lived there, Kirara Yamamoto, her best friend.

Skipping along the road she barely noticed when a stranger bumped into her, pausing she apologized bowing to him. Standing up after a moment of silence, she gazed into cold grey orbs that made her shiver, backing away from him, she averted her eyes and raced by, acutely aware of his lingering gaze. Seeing the front door of her home, she started to feel a bit better, her heart no longer pounding quite as hard, nor as fast. Climbing up the steps, she opened the door to her home and sniffed the air, the scent of that nights dinner wafting through the rooms. Salivating she walked towards the kitchen in a daze, her stomach growling loudly due to the wonderful aroma.

Entering the door way, she found her mother slaving away over the stove humming her favorite lullaby as she did so. Grinning, she placed her tiny backpack upon one of the dinning room chairs, and went through the door way into the large kitchen. Looking around the vast space, she spotted a stool in front of the kitchen island and climbed up. Brilliant emerald glanced at her daughter from the corner of her eyes before happily returning to the meal no longer humming.

"How was your day, Sakura?"

Grinning wildly her front teeth missing she held up both her hands which were stained with different colors from paint more then likely, "We did whatever we wanted. Teacher said that it was the last day of school, no point in doing any work. So I painted a picture!"

Jumping down from the stool excitedly, she raced to her pack and brought out a rolled paper, obviously the reason for her colored hands. Spots of color could be seen upon her lose boyish clothing as well, her grey hooded sweatshirt containing the most of the acrylic stains. Heaving a small but content sigh, the older woman shook her head and crouched down so that she was closer to her daughter's height as the girl gave the woman her picture. Unrolling it, she felt her heart melt at the wonderfully drawn picture. In the back ground was their home, their advanced vehicle sitting in front of the driveway, as three figures stood in the front holding hands, the smaller of the three in the middle.

"It's beautiful darling," standing up she walked over to their silver fridge and placed the picture on it, the sides completely uncurled now.

"Yay!"

Their front door suddenly burst open as the two turned towards the loud noise, a man rushing into the kitchen with his briefcase in one hand. A small frown was upon his lips, but his sad horrified eyes made his wife stop any movement she was about to make. Taking a step forward towards her husband, she watched as the red haired male dropped his case and rushed forward, pulling her into his arms tightly. Worried and fearful, she just held on, their daughter watching from her spot in the kitchen, her brows furrowed in confusion and fright. Her father never came home like that, never, so something had to be wrong, and whatever it was she was deftly afraid to find out.

"Daddy?" the young pale pink haired girl questioned.

His hazel eyes darkened as he pulled away from his wife and kneeled, "Come here my baby, let me hold you for a moment."

Still confused and now more scared by the strange tone in her father's voice, she rushed into his arms, holding back her tears, "Daddy what's wrong?" and as if those had been the magic words the entire world had suddenly fallen silent.

As fast as the silence had come, the loud booming sounds that came from the center of their colony could have had only one cause. Weapons fire and bombs, the war that had been taking place for half a year now, had finally come to their home, to their little safe haven. Sakura screamed in fright as gun fire went off, and her father picked her up, his gaze meeting with his wife's as they nodded. Both knew what needed to be done as they raced for the back door leading out of the kitchen. Getting out of the house had been easy, but an explosion not far from them had went off sending them to the ground as debris went flying by and ash and smoke began to fill the air.

Crying into her father's chest, she had half her face uncovered, watching the scenery as her father got back up, helping his wife up as well. They began to race away, towards one of the evacuation trains, people were racing around, screaming, woman carrying their babies, men holding her smallest child upon their backs. Houses were ruined, the tall buildings were hardly standing as chunks had been blown out of the sides. Blood and debris was everywhere as they raced on by, when suddenly his wife tripped on an arm, the sound of close gunfire going off causing both his and his wife's eyes to widen.

Slowly he fell to his knees, his daughter tumbling from his arms, as he fell forward, his body no long functioning, his eyes blank and unseeing. Jade orbs cried out in fright as she shook her father's shoulder, blood smearing across her hands as she did so. Her mother scooped her up and began to race away, tears streaming down her face as her daughter screamed out, trying to break free of her mother's grasp so that she could go back to her father. It was no use though, as the woman carried them farther and farther away, towards the terminals, letting them escape from the carnage behind them.

Sound disappeared from her ears, her sight blurry from tears as she felt herself falling backwards, out of her mother's arms. Brilliant emerald faded away, her lips moving, barely, but the words escaping from her mouth was nothing but the obvious.

"R...un Sa...kura."

"No!" Sakura screamed out as she grabbed her mother's pale arm, shaking her, trying to wake her up, but her closed eyes wouldn't open for her. Screaming out into the fading sky, her world had collapse, nothing was left now, her mother and father wouldn't wake up and she was alone.

"Mommy," she sobbed, her chest wracked with pain, "Daddy."

Her small body shook so much that she barely noticed when she was being lifted into strong unfamiliar arms, jade met cold grey once more and her body froze as the tears continued to descend. Then without warning she wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to sob, unknowing of the sinister look that came into his ice like orbs, nor the plans that were forming in his mind. As her sobs began to grow quieter she felt her exhausted body being pulled into a deep sleep where she knew she'd have nightmares.

"Sleep now child, for soon you'll find yourself within my own hospitality." A wickedly laugh escaped his lips sending a shudder down her spine then all was black.

**2145 Senate Ruins: Crimson Resistence Headquarters**

A soundless scream escaped her lips as she shot up in her bed, eyes wide and unseeing as pain rushed through her body. A hand was holding her steady as she took in deep breaths, sweat rolling down the sides of her face as she clutched the light blankets in her hands. Ragged sobs worked their way free of her throat and she found herself leaning into her hands, tears escaping her jade orbs and cascading down her pale cheeks. Weight shifted upon the bed and she found herself being wrapped in a warm embrace. Somehow she felt protected and safe, held by someone who cared, and while it wasn't her mother or father who held her it was still someone how loved her.

Heaving a small tired sigh, she sat up and out of the welcoming arms as she turned to meet sweet loving lavender. Giving a small smile she nodded her thanks and made to get up, but a hand on her shoulder held her down and she frowned. She was fine, a little sore maybe, but he knew that she healed fast, so he shouldn't be trying to hold her in bed, besides she hated being in the infirmary, he knew that as well. Letting a scowl cross her lips she crossed her arms in anger, pulling at the wound in her side. Wincing a little she relaxed a bit but still kept the unpleasant scowl upon her pale lips.

"I want to get up," she grumbled.

Chuckling a bit the lavender eyed male stood and crossed his arms, his back silk shirt having the top three buttons undone causing her to swallow hard. What she wouldn't give to be able to run her hands over his smooth chest right then and there, to leave sweet butterfly kisses along his neck and collarbone. It was almost too enticing and a dark blush flowed up her cheeks as she peered up shyly into mischievous lavender. Of course he would find it amusing, he always did like to tease her if he found she had been staring longer then what was normal for her.

Clearing her throat she tried again to get him to let her escape that very uncomfortable bed with the itchy blankets, "Please Kira, I want to get up."

Shaking his head, his smooth soft baritone voice sent shivers down her spine, "No, Tsunade and Kikyo both said that it would be best if you rested for the rest of the day."

Snorting she was clearly unhappy, "I think I've rest enough thank you!"

Laughing he nodded, "You've been out for two days."

Narrowing her eyes, she felt surprise race through her system, "Two days!? But, I didn't think I was that hurt, I mean sure a lot of blood loss, but I was still whole!"

Now it was his turn to scowl as his eyes narrowed angrily upon her, lavender flashing dangerously as he took a step away from the bed fists clenched tight. It wasn't the first time she had tried to play off her injuries as if they were nothing, and of course for her they probably were nothing compared to what she's had done to her before, but they were still deep enough to have caused enough damage. She was lucky she would still be able to have children one day if she so wished it, though he couldn't see her wanting to raise one in such a world as the one they were currently living in.

"You almost died Sakura, if we hadn't gotten there when we did you would have."

Waving a hand she gave a half smile, half smirk, her gaze as unwavering as his own, "I've been through worse, Yamato, and my body should be healed almost fully now."

Twisting away from her gaze his body shook, whether from anger or something else entirely she wasn't sure, and was almost afraid to find out. Lifting herself out of the bed slowly, she meant to make her way over towards him when she suddenly found herself in his tight embrace once more. Blinking slowly she wrapped her arms around him, feeling the tears that fell from his eyes onto her bare neck. That was when her blush came back full force as she realized how little she was actually wearing, especially in front of Kira.

"Um, ah..." attempting to pull away, she found herself locked tight in his embrace causing worry to fill her, surely it hadn't been that bad, had it? "Kira?"

His voice cracked as he spoke into her shoulder, "I hate it when you do that, when you knowingly go into an area swarming with Shadow Beasts. It's almost like you have a death wish."

Frowning softly she squeezed him a bit then leaned back a bit, her one hand lifting up his chin so that she could look into his eyes, "I'm not asking to die..."

"Then why do you do it?" he demanded cutting her off, but his eyes held a deep pain that she had caused time and again.

Tears swarmed her eyes, she felt horrible for everything she had done, was continuing to do, but she couldn't stop, no matter the pain. Her parents had died because of that war, her life had changed that day, and on more then one occasion she had wished to die. But when she fought those shadow beasts, she had felt like she was on a whole new level, that should could feel alive and free for once in her life. It was almost like she was invincible but that was wrong, wrong to feel, wrong to do, especially when there were others to take care of.

Looking away from him, she felt as his arms dropped to his side, neither could look at the other, now separated by this strong pain. After a moment of trying to hold those tears back, she felt them begin to descend from her eyes, trailing down her pale cheeks to her chin where little droplets feel to the stone floor. Clenching her fist she brought her hands up to look at them, seeing the stains of those she had destroyed within her mind. Tightening her jaw, she glanced at him, her heart pounding, but her hardening eyes showing her resolve to tell him everything. It was the only way to get him to understand her heart, her choices, even if she didn't quite understand them either.

"I'm not asking to die Kira, nor am I asking to live. But that monster had created those beasts, and fighting against them makes me feel almost as if I was avenging my family, I feel alive when going up against those odds."

Snorting angrily his lavender orbs darkened, "So being with me isn't enough to feel alive, you have to get your kicks from fighting those...those things! If you didn't feel that I was giving you enough, then you should have said so, I would have stepped back and let you die!"

Giving a wry sad smile she looked away, "No you wouldn't, you care too much, no matter how much I hurt you." Her voice broke but she carried on, "You, you make me feel so much that it hurts Kira, and yet I've never felt so wonderful then when I am with you, it's almost surreal. I want to protect your heart, to keep those created by _him_ away from you, so you would never have to fight. You should ever have to live that kind of life."

Eyes softening a tad, he took a small step towards her, "What about you? You don't deserve that kind of life either."

"And yet," she murmured connecting their gazes, "that was what we were created for, ne?" Heart stopping in her throat she swallowed, trying to speak around the wedge that had buried itself deeply in her, "We were created, changed in order to fight against something like those creatures, it was the reason they had us manufactured. For war, for battle, to destroy their enemies."

Frowning, his hands tightened, his stance rigged as he spoke, "We may have had our genes altered and strengthened, but we are still ourselves, just because we were made different from other humans, doesn't mean we don't think and feel like they do."

Chuckling softly she stepped up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm glad, otherwise I would have never been able to fall in love with you."

* * *

Snorting in irritation, he brought his hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in order to wage off a headache that was slowly beginning to form. All this work, all this waiting, and they still weren't getting anywhere, to make things worse, his second best fighter was a reneged who didn't abide by their rules. Always going out and doing what she could on her own, while the rest of them laid down plans and worked to their greatest strengths to finish the war that had started twenty years ago. Of course, she was hard headed and had a temper that was something to fear, so he was quite glad he didn't quite have to tell her what to do.

Mind you renegade or not, there were some things one would realize regardless, like avoiding being cornered by a pack of shadow beasts, not to mention the one silver hunter that had been hanging around them.

Heaving a deep sigh he turned towards a computer monitor sitting upon his desk, the flat screen displaying footage from one of the abandoned colonies. Crumpled buildings lay broken upon the ground, the black air thick with ash and smoke but that wasn't the images that burned into his mind. Deep golden eyes burned into his head, his gaze holding firm with those upon the screen, but neither could truly see each other. Monsters, creatures that feed off the flesh of man, their wrinkled pink skin a testament to their old way of life, their old humanity. Frowning deeply, he released the breath he had been holding and looked away from the screen, those golden eyes burned into his mind.

"Commander?"

Clearing the emotion from his face, he turned around and sat in his black chair, hands clasped in front of him as he stared into amber eyes. Letting a small welcoming smile cross his face, he nodded letting the brunette haired woman before him relax. In front of the majority of the resistence, he was a hard cold man, but his top captain, his co-commander, and the renegade all knew different.

"Captain Ramius," he murmured softly, "what brings you to my deep dark corner?"

"It is no darker then your heart," she replied evenly, her eyes amused.

Letting a chuckle escape his lips, he nodded, "Ah, true enough, but you completely bypassed the question, is there something the matter?"

The smile on her face froze, and her bright amber dimmed as she turned her head away from, looking towards on of the four blank walls in the dark room. The only light entering from the door she had enter, left open a crack, otherwise it was his computer screen that reflected off his face. It didn't surprise her anymore that the commander of the resistance liked the darkness, it fit in well with the rest of the world, instead of the fake light from the lamps and bulbs. It was a hard life they lived, having to have their own generator up and running so that they could use electricity, it was almost as if they had went back in time. Almost.

"Outside of Hikari ruins lays sector 9-3 D," turning back towards him, she pulled a piece of paper out her pocket and handed it to him, "on there is a small detailed map of the outer ruins, we could not get to the center. Section 1A has been over run by a new breed of hybrid, something we haven't seen since the destruction of lab 7-4."

Raising his eyes from the page handed to him, he looked at her hard, "7-4 eh?"

Glancing at the page again he laid it down on the table and leaned back, his golden amber eyes now closed in thought, long silver locks falling over his shoulder as he did so. Tired lines crinkled at the corner of his eyes, his lips had thinned, and his pale skin appeared shallow and sunken as if everything had been drained from him. Life, and age it seemed, was catching up to him, and his advanced genes weren't making things better, for he still appeared beautiful, but now, also dead.

"Yes," she paused before continuing, "with the destruction of 7-4 we had thought that was it, that there was no more experiments or experimentations being done. All those hybrids and creatures that we had run into had been from that same lab, but it appears that maybe, there was more then one."

"I see."

Frown deepening she stood a little straighter, "I and Squad Alpha 7 wish to take a look, deeper into those ruins."

"Alpha 7?" Sharp eyes zeroed in on her, "Sakura Haruno, free agent. Andrew Bartfeldt, captain. Caleb Santos, soldier. Nikolai Merric, soldier, squad medic. Why them?"

"They're the best of the best."

Snorting his clasped hands tightened, the knuckles going white, "Thirteen squads Ramius and you chose Alpha 7, whose free agent is indisposed at the moment."

Someone cleared their throat and two pairs of eyes turned to the woman standing in the door way, brown eyes flashing dangerously as she stepped into the room, long raven hair floating softly with her sharp movements. Black heels clicked upon the stone floor as she made her way towards his desk causing a small scowl to work it's way upon his lips. He hated being interrupted especially when no one knocks first before entering his office, it was degrading and disrespectful.

"Need I remind you Kikyo Hino, that you are invading upon my space?"

"Is that so?" she asked softly her voice cold and hard, "I hear you plan on sending Sakura out again, Commander Sesshoumaru."

Snarling at her, he bared his sharp fangs, "It's Commander Taisho to you, wench. Now what do you want and why are you hear?"

Smirking darkly she laid out a file upon his desk, "Sakura Haruno's medical file, as requested Commander _Taisho_." Sneering in contempt she turned to Captain Ramius, "When did you plan on setting out upon this little mission?"

Narrowing her eyes, Murrue Ramius's features darkened, her gaze unwavering upon the cold woman before her as she tugged unnoticeably at the hem of her crimson muscle shirt, "Why do you ask?"

Facial features softening a bit, Kikyo let a small smile graze her frozen lips, "Sakura is still healing and won't be able to leave her bed without orders for another three hours, by then she shall have been fully rested and ready to go out again. Though I would suggest talking to Co-Commander Yamato first."

"Kira? Why?"

Snorting Sesshoumaru waved a hand getting the two women to look at him, "Fine, I'll talk to Yamato," then pausing he glowered at Kikyo, "out of my sight now."

Laughing harshly she turned and walked towards the door, "With pleasure Commander."

When she had fully left the air in the room grew cold and harsh, leaving the two angered and confused by the woman, Murrue more confused then Sesshoumaru whose ire had only increased. Kikyo and him had a dark history, one that need not repeating, and left to crumble into dust and bones, least he wither away from fury and hatred like herself. Right now though, at this moment, no matter how much he hated her, he couldn't let her words or emotions get to him, sector 9-3 D was what was important now. Which reminds him, as he turns around to Murrue, his orbs darkening as sorrow clings to his soul, she was planning on heading into that sector. But why her and not someone else?

"Why Squad Alpha 7? Why you?"

"Sakura knows that terrain better then any of us, that's where we found her, remember, on the outskirts of those ruins. Nikolai is the best field medic and has inside out knowledge of the team, and Caleb is a computer specialist as well as a hell of a soldier. Not to mention Squad Captain Andrew Bartfeldt whose outstanding field commands leaves him open to take position of general should we gain anymore escapees from the residing colonies and cities. I myself have good field qualifications and can drive us to the site without problems. A jeep is all we would need to get us there and back, plus whatever we dig up in those ruins."

"Hm," Closing his eyes, he let himself get lost in thought, "I see, well then..."

**2145 Demark Capital: Darkmoon City**

"_Welcome to Crystal Tower, the center of the Demark Society and the trade mark tower that rose up from the ashes of the old world. When Lord Kaita Wataru..._"

Heaving a heavy sigh, tired grey blue eyes scanned his surroundings, watching for something out of the ordinary as he made his way deeper into the crystal tower. It was the headquarters of the Demark Society and Kaita's control center for all the outer cities upon the main land. Glass walls made the interior of the inside, as unbreakable windows made the outer walls of the building. You could see the entire dome city, and the building was the largest of all the other builds. Each created sub-level indicating the change in society and the mark of the lord. Lower class was all those who were useless to the lord, who couldn't get themselves off the ground to serve their lord. They were the scum, those that lived upon the grounded in small shabby buildings barely left standing from the old days.

Almost nothing was left of that under world. Next was the middle level were all the middle class worked and abide by the rules Wataru had set up for their safety. Those who didn't follow were collared and monitored from several relay stations within the tower, keeping everyone in check. Finally there was the top level, the high class citizens who lived for themselves and obeyed Kaita Wataru's every last wish, least they wished for a death sentence or worse.

Those who hated life in the capital moved away to the farther cities despite the similar rules, and those that couldn't hack the way of life left the domed cities and colonies and traveled into the real world. Few survived the harsh drop in temperatures and the poisonous air that darkened the skies. Nothing could survive outside of the sheltered cities, except for those who had join an organization known as the Crimson Resistence.

Furrowing his brows as he stepped onto a lift, he couldn't help but let his thoughts drift towards those that called themselves a resistence. Some resistence they were, being pushed back time and again, but the few wins they did have were enough to cripple some part of their work that left them months back in operations. Someday the lord would be fed up with the annoying pests and would search out the ruined cities and colonies for their base. Maybe everything would change then, maybe things would get worse, but he knew deep in his heart that without the resistence nothing could ever be the same.

"Lieutenant Higurashi," someone said as they entered the lift four floors above where he had entered.

Turning his gaze upon the one who had entered, he gave a small flash of a smile to a red haired woman whose crimson orbs sent shivers down his spine. She was a scientist for Shadow Ops. She created a special drug for the soldiers within the Shadow Ops. Teams in order to create stronger more proficient soldiers, not that she needed to for some of them. Team Captain Athrun Zala was testimony to that, having been an escapee experiment from 3-7.

"Oh, sorry Miss Yusagi." he apologized politely having spaced out on her.

"You okay?" her crimson eyes were sharp, no worry indicated in her voice, yet she had asked him, so he had no choice but to answer.

"Ah, yeah, sorry, I've just been thinking."

"Oh?" Another flash went through those dark forbidding eyes, and sweat formed on the back of his neck, "Why don't you tell me what you've been thinking about, maybe I can help."

Smirking darkly he snorted, "I doubt you'll be able to help much," those round rimmed glasses upon her face shimmer as she tilted her head, the light now hiding her dark eyes.

"Try me."

Wincing from that hard tone she used, he gave a defeated sigh, "Just lost in thought about one of the projects I've been asked to work on, nothing I can tell you. In fact I'm actually heading off to talk to General le Kluze about it."

"I see."

Noticing that they had reached the seventy fourth floor he stepped off and gave a salute, watching as the lift took her to the next floor up, their eyes disconnecting once she was passed the concrete floor. Heaving a relieved sigh he turned around and made his way down a long hall towards the door at the end. It was time to report in and give a detailed analysis of the project he had mentioned to Karin Yusagi.

* * *

"You've got those reports I was asking for?" Grey eyes flashed in the darkness from his chair as he gazed out at the blackened sky from his perch, not bothering to turn around to greet the one who had entered his domain.

Letting a scowl cross her petite ruby lips she placed her hands on her hips, a folder having already been placed upon the table before her. Being questioned was not why she had been the one to deliver the files, instead she was curious, wondering why those files were to be handed over and not the others. It was perplexing and possibly even annoying to her scientific mind that had been hoping to crap open those files and to see what was written upon those soot covered pages.

"Yes, but why those ones my lord?"

A small but vicious growl escaped from the man in the black chair causing her to take a step back, her heels clicking lightly against the stone floor. Her short black skirt rode up, showing off more of her scantily clad legs causing those dark eyes in the windows to flash darkly. Women as far as he was concerned, were all sluts and whores ready to sell themselves out to the highest bidder. There was only one woman in his books that was even worth mentioning, one woman who had always stirred his blood, right from the first time he met her, the same woman who was in those files now sitting upon his desk.

"That is none of your concern Karin."

"But my lord, maybe if you-"

"Don't," his harsh voice echoed about the room, causing her stop what she was about to say, his strong masculine voice sending shivers of both fear and pleasure down her spine. If only she could get a look at his face, if only she could see that man in the darkness, then maybe she could run her hand down his chest and whisper sweet nothings in his ear as she rode him like a-

"Your thoughts are not welcome here. If you are done, then I suggest you leave, now!"

Jumping, she turned and raced from the room, her long white lab coat trailing behind her as she raced out the door, slamming it shut behind her. But he didn't care at the moment whether or not she closed it properly, right now, as he turned around to look at the folder, all he was interested was those pages. Perhaps if he could learn more about her, study her, learn her patterns, her thoughts, then maybe, just maybe he would come just that much closer to catching her within his tight grasp. Maybe then he could get rid of his obsessions for her flesh, maybe then, he could rid the woman from his mind, and possibly squeeze the life from her pale fragile body.

"Soon my little kitten, soon you'll be back under my wing, and out from that world that you've let yourself become apart of."

Soon.

**2145 Senate Ruins: Sakura's Quarters**

Stifling a yawn, she finished stuffing a spare shirt into her bag before adding a couple of knives, a hand gun, and a few extra cartridges of bullets. Filling some of her pants pockets with weapons as well as hiding a dagger in her knee high boots, she felt a little more lethal. She was almost ready to leave, heading out on another mission that the Commander had asked of her, that Captain Ramius had pleaded of her. Those ruins were not ones she had ever wished to go back to, those ruins were what had given her the long scars upon her back where her skin had been ripped nearly to shreds. Were it not for her genetically altered accelerated healing and the abilities of the healing women in the infirmary of Crimson Headquarters then she would have died from those wounds.

But still, they were asking her to go back to that place, a place she had long ago escaped from, those ruins that held more secrets and lies then even 7-4 held. Mystery shrouded them, something ate away from the inside, devouring the land and feeding those strange beasts she had only ever seen once in her life. To think they still existed in such a place, though maybe it wasn't as surprising as she had thought it to be, just like Silver Hunters managed to survive, so too would these thinking hybrids.

Giving a shudder she stopped all her movements, those creatures hadn't made a move, hadn't even been on their radar since she had been found, in fact the resistence had never seen such creatures before. Now all of a sudden, seven years later, they show up again, their shrill screams echoing into the air, their greedy black eyes waiting, but for what? Letting a scowl cross her lips, she slammed a hand against a wooden dresser, her eyes trained on a shelf covered wall, books lining the wall of the small room. Snorting unceremoniously she uncurled her fist and heaved a heavy sigh, for all she knew those damned hybrids could be laying down a trap for them.

"It wouldn't be surprising," she mused as she turned to the only light in her room, a small lamp, that barely lit the small area. It was sitting on a small table next to her cot, which covered the whole wall.

"What wouldn't be surprising?"

Narrowing her gaze upon her bed, she murmured back, "I'm about to go on a mission and was just thinking that it wouldn't be surprising if a trap was laying there, waiting for us."

Light azure eyes watched her steadily as he nodded, "Yeah, I can understand your worry."

"I'm sure you could," she turned around and let a smile cross her lips, "Naruto."

A grin its way onto his lips, as he watched her, running a hand through his messy golden locks, "So I take it Squad Alpha 7 is also going then?"

Frowning she nodded, "Yeah, apparently there has been movement in sector 9-3 D."

"9-3 huh."

Neither spoke, both knowing the implications of what 9-3 meant, the dangers that awaited them in the uncharted territory. Despite Sakura's knowledge of the area, the center of 9-3 had little exploration on her part, as she hadn't wanted to get to close to the monster's nest. Now though, she was going back into the den, and she could only pray that all of them would come out unscathed and whole. Unfortunately her previous experience of the place told her otherwise, they were in for one wild night, if she was anyone to guess.

"You promise not to do anything stupid?"

Snorting she looked up into his narrowed eyes, his tanned face looking pinched and weary, "I can't promise you that I won't do anything stupid, I tend to have a knack for doing stupid things, or so I've been told."

"Can't you at least come back whole this time?" he demanded.

Chuckling she nodded, tweaking his nose, "If only to stave off yours and Kira's rantings."

"Good luck doing that," came a light laugh as Kira entered the room, his lavender eyes sparkling with some hidden emotion.

"I'll uh, leave you two alone," Naruto murmured as he left through the door, his eyes sparkling darkly.

"So you're leaving huh, didn't stay very long this time," their eyes clashed, and all she could do was hold her head up, her gaze filled with defiance. "Just promise me you'll be safe this time."

"Safe? Is there such thing as that now a days?"

"Sakura, please?"

Giving a wry smile, "I wish I could, but I can't." With that she picked up her bag, her sword upon her back as she made to move past him, but paused at his side. Turning her head she rested her lips upon his cheek, and then raced out the door before he could stop her. Maybe this was the last time she would see him, but she knew, deep down that if worst came to worse that he would understand.

_I love you Kira._


End file.
